The PowerBook 17” SuperDrive costs in Europe 1000 Euro more than in USA.

Someone know the reason of this difference ?

2004-12-16 2:26 pm

Anyone tried any games to see if the OpenGL updates provide any speed ups?

I sucks that I’m away from my Mac for a week and can’t download the updates to try myself.

2004-12-16 2:29 pm

Someone know the reason of this difference ?>>

Um, just a wild assed guess here — Italian taxes?

Back in 1990 I had a wonderful visit to Rome and while strolling down a street not far from the U I saw a shop with some Swatch watches in it. I took a look at the price, ran a quick calculation in my head, and just to make sure my number was right asked my dad to do the math.

The swatch that cost $35 in the US cost $70 in Italy.

Don’t blame Apple for this one.

2004-12-16 2:29 pm

Roberto, I fail to see what this has anything to do with the release of 10.3.7? Are your price complaints linked in some way to the release of 10.3.7?

2004-12-16 2:45 pm

Is the new GFX drivers. they draw less power and since I have installed this on my system I do not get a power whine on my poor old G4 powerMac PSU. (I have upgraded the GFX card to an nvidia GF3 Ti which started causing the problems)

2004-12-16 3:05 pm

I have always wondered: I have a G4 400 (not mirror drive,

but AGP) and a NVidia card in my Linux box. Could I now

swith out the default ATI card with my Nvidia GeForce Ti 4400?

I don’t know much about switching hardware in Apples besides

hard disk. Would I need a ROM update or would drivers be

sufficient?

To try & stay on topic abit: 10.3.7 installed & is running

fine for me

2004-12-16 3:17 pm

same problem here in holland (netherlands)

and you should also take in account that the euro is worth more than 1 dollar. So mac hardware in europe is insane expensive. dont ask mw why. taxes? i don’t think so.

2004-12-16 3:39 pm

The PowerBook 17” SuperDrive costs in Europe 1000 Euro more than in USA.

Someone know the reason of this difference ?

It is very common for American companies to do this, sheer greed as far as I can tell.

In Apple’s case I think they are only shooting themselves in the foot, reducing prices would be made up for increased sales.

2004-12-16 3:43 pm

actually, no.

nVidia Biffed with their GF3 cards. it was insanely simple to flash a mac compatible ROM onto the GF3Ti. after the GF3, no more PC nVidia cards work. you buy what is at retail.

ATI also stopped this by making the Mac ROM larger. there really is no reason any longer (with the death of ADC and all) to maintain the price difference and stuff. Nvidia and ATI just want to pad their pockets the Mac user’s expense,

2004-12-16 3:50 pm

Seems to have cured the slow down problems with ITUNES full screen visualisations. Works great. Can’t see much difference with preview, but hopefully fixes a bug it had openeing multiple TIFFs.

Agree with the overpricing of european apple hardware. My 15″ powerbook cost over £1800.00. Luckily I’m very happy with it though!

2004-12-16 3:52 pm

I had a problem installing it at first, i.e. it wouldn’t.

It complained it didn’t have permission to write to something.

I have a few 3rd party apps running so I uninstalled one (Firewalk X) switched the other off (Temperature monitor) and ran fix permissions.

Seem’d to do the job as it installed fine after that and I’ve reinstalled Firewalk with no ill effects.

2004-12-16 3:52 pm

I am running OSX on my lombard 400mhz with 512MB of memory. Previously Safari was very sluggish, but after this update everything seems so smooth. Very good update!

Jim

2004-12-16 4:18 pm

I don’t think the problem are local taxes (excluding VAT, of course)

Considering a DELL Dimension 8400 :

USA : 749$ – 563 E.

Italy : 599 E.

Difference : +36 E.

The model sold in Italy has a slower processor, but doubled RAM, doubled HD and CD Writer.

Bye

2004-12-16 4:49 pm

The price difference is due to the fact that more Macs are sold in the US, relatively speaking, than in Europe.

I updated to 10.3.7 and played Call of Duty: United Offensive. Dont have any hard data, but it did seem to be a little more responsive to me. (Could just be in my head..)

2004-12-16 6:08 pm

Prices aren’t that much different in the US compared to the Netherlands actually. We just pay a lot of tax (19%). Also on the Dutch site taxes are included in the price, not in the US site, because different states have got different tax rates.

2004-12-16 6:21 pm

I used Software Update on my Powerbook 17″ to install 10.3.7, rebooted, and everything seems fine. Maybe I was just lucky.

2004-12-16 6:24 pm

I installed on a AL PBook G4 without any problems.

Looks like this one relates to network settings or something. Apple states you should unplug any firewire drives or hardware before installing the update.

I also always log in (not automatically) for the security of my notebook (many of the problem people usually get a login console).

2004-12-16 6:33 pm

After reading the Tom’s link, I froze in place and didn’t rush to System Update. Anyone can confirm this update working with Powerbooks (Rev. B)

2004-12-16 6:38 pm

After reading the Tom’s link, I froze in place and didn’t rush to System Update. Anyone can confirm this update working with Powerbooks (Rev. B)

I know to unplug all 3rd party devices, and to do the usual permission repairs and such. However, the people in that link also followed the correct procedures…!

Oh, and btw, it’s Thom, not Tom .

2004-12-16 7:00 pm

how did your G4 iMac get so messed up from a software update that you had to dump it?

2004-12-16 7:29 pm

Got my Powerbook and 8 others I administer and all are fine and impoved from the update.

2004-12-16 7:57 pm

updated and works just fine on my 12″ 1ghz powerbook.

2004-12-16 8:20 pm

how did your G4 iMac get so messed up from a software update that you had to dump it?

I didn’t dump it, as I said, I replaced it. My local Apple Store (well, it ain’t actually a true Apple Store, it’s just a very big Apple-only shop) bought my iMac and I bought a new iBok. I traded it in.

2004-12-16 8:30 pm

Sorry m8

Well, I can’t affor to destroy my OSX, I’m in south america, 11.500 k.m. away from my place (and My panther DVD). Thom, you have two boxes, yo ahead, install it on the powerbook, go ahead, you can do it.. go ahead… (Jedi Mind trick)

Dank Je!

2004-12-16 8:37 pm

Smooth update for me, no problems at all. OS X is in fact generally more responsive on my iMac G5 (and I thought it was already pretty superb!), and Safari seems better at scrolling, etc. so I am extremely pleased!

UT2004, on the other hand, did not change speed at all (neither slower or faster). I ran the Santaduck tests before and after installation, on Flyby (to not add any bot AI variations), and got exactly the same 44 FPS average score for 1280×800 resolution.

Anyone else got game test stats?

btw: I am a very new Apple user after many, many years of PC usage, and I can’t remember a *single* time my PC sped up after a M$ patch – thanks Apple 🙂

2004-12-16 9:04 pm

Speaking of UT2k4, how does it look on that iMac G5? Any ghosting?

2004-12-16 9:20 pm

I updated my iBook last night and everything is fine here. I don’t think I’m lucky so much as this is by far the norm and some others have been very unlucky (wonder what the difference is)

2004-12-16 9:44 pm

The difference is people blindly applying updates, or installing weirdo crap, never running permissions repairs and generally not taking care of their OS.

I’ve never had an issue with an apple update, regardless of platform (iBook, G5, iMac etc.).

Same thing happens all the time with Windows updates. If you don’t care for your machine, it won’t care for you.

2004-12-16 9:46 pm

I can confirm that 10.3.7 works well on my 600 MHz iBook. No beachballs or Airport connectivity issues. As a matter of fact , the update finally fixed that strange intermittent DNS hangup that occured after a Security update a few months ago.

Works well on my Dual 1.8 G5 also, although I didn’t really notice a speedup on Unreal Tournament 2004. Performance appears the same with a Radeon 9600.

2004-12-16 10:03 pm

The difference is people blindly applying updates, or installing weirdo crap, never running permissions repairs and generally not taking care of their OS.

I’ve never had an issue with an apple update, regardless of platform (iBook, G5, iMac etc.).

Same thing happens all the time with Windows updates. If you don’t care for your machine, it won’t care for you.

Now that’s an arrogant assumption. So you say all the people complaining about 10.3.6/7 are all idiots who don’t care for their machine? The people in the link I posted here ALL did their permission repairs etc, and still it f*cked their machines. Just because YOU don’t have any problems doesn’t mean NO ONE should have.

I like my iBook, it’s my main, if not only, computer. BUT I’m not blind to the fact that Apple updates have a history of being naughty without any viable explanation as to why.

Oh, and in case you want to know: I DID to the usual stuff before applying the .3.6 patch to my iMac; still it got screwed.

2004-12-16 10:30 pm

I agree this has nothing to do with 10.3.7 (which is running fine on my 1.33GHz PowerBook) – but I believe the cost difference has most to do with the absymal status of the US Dollar. Here in Canada, Apple stuff is priced at a 63 cent Canadian dollar (compared to the US) but it is presently trading at about 83 cents. Meaning I could drive across the border and pick up any Apple product for a savings of ~20% Pretty dumb if you ask me

2004-12-16 11:00 pm

“The price difference is due to the fact that more Macs are sold in the US, relatively speaking, than in Europe.”

Or you could of course say:

“The fact that fewer Macs are sold in Europe, relatively speaking, than in the US is due to the price difference.”

2004-12-16 11:05 pm

I updated my 12″ Powerbook last night, Rev. C, and everything seems to work just fine. Safari is faster as is over all feel, but when working in dual monitors my mouse disapeared for a bit. I could still click on things, but no mouse icon. A quick reboot fixed such though, never encountered it until the 10.3.7 update.

I also updated my family’s eMac and everything is working just fine on here as well.

2004-12-16 11:08 pm

Chicken or the egg?

Guess it’s a spiral, though.

2004-12-16 11:15 pm

I forgot to mention in my previous post disagreeing with the POWER suggestion and mentioning a successor to the G5/PPC970. I think that it is likely that Apple will move up to a multi-core chip. The PPC980 is rumoured to have both multi-cores and Multi-threading capability. This would mean that a dual CPU machine would appear to have 8 CPUs. 2 physical packages containing 2 cores per chip with 2 virtual cores per core as a result of hyper threading. At least that’s what I’ve discovered from various sources. I could be completely wrong, although I hope not 🙂

2004-12-16 11:19 pm

oops… wrong topic. ignore previous post. doh!

I will now fall on my sword. sorry.

2004-12-16 11:31 pm

Okay I took the plunge and updated my precious iBook to 10.3.7. The update went fine– first boot was of course slow as hell. Haven’t done any other reboots though.

2004-12-16 11:48 pm

installed from 10.3.6, and my illuminated keyboard on my PB 17, sniff

2004-12-17 12:47 am

Very brave… You, in the end, have your precious OS X DVD a few feet from you… now tell me… 11.500 km… (yeah, I could download and install Ubuntu linux … no thanks )

2004-12-17 2:34 am

“Someone know the reason of this difference ?”

VAT is usually not included in US prices. And it differs very much in Europe from country to country (e.g. Austria has 18%, ouch)…

2004-12-17 3:12 am

The guy posting the Italian prices expressly stated that he *didn’t* include Italian VAT.

2004-12-17 4:35 am

leave it to the lamers to complain about prices when the topic is 10.3.7. I guess there is not enough about this update to complain about. My update was fine on an iBook and an MDD.

2004-12-17 5:54 am

I updated to 10.3.7 on my Al PowerBook G4 1.25Ghz, 512Mb Ram & ATi Mobility Radeon 9600 64mb vram. So far in Unreal Tournament 2003 performance shot up a lot! At least 10fps increase in most areas on specific maps I test consistently since 10.3.6. Unreal Tournament 2004 performance seems to have gone up some as well.

Xbench also seems to show that in every case OpenGL performance went up significantly from 10.3.6 to 10.3.7 for me. Thanks Apple 🙂

2004-12-17 6:57 am

Cool. Can’t wait to get back to my Mac and update it myself then. I normally play UT2K4 and any speed up is welcome.

2004-12-17 9:56 am

The PowerBook 17” SuperDrive costs in Europe 1000 Euro more than in USA.

Someone know the reason of this difference ?

It is very common for American companies to do this, sheer greed as far as I can tell.

Its not an “American company” thing, but a multinational problem, where by fluctuations in currency lag result in price differences between countries, with that being said, these companies are all very quick about raising the price when the importing countries currency falls through the floor, but when it comes to passing on the savings when the importing currency strengthens, it tends to take up to 6 months – for example, when I bought my eMac, there was a massive descripency between the US pricing and what was offered in my country of residence at that time.

Mind you, one company I do see, willing to make sure they’re ontop of the game is Dell, and their willingness to pass on savings when currency does appreciate. If the lagging attitude by Apple continues, Dell will receive another customer to its fold.

2004-12-17 10:01 am

The price difference is due to the fact that more Macs are sold in the US, relatively speaking, than in Europe.

Which wouldn’t make a toss of difference as the whole thing is assembled, and either shipped to North America for the Americas market, France for the European market or Singapore hub for their Asia/Pacific region.

Apart from *occasional* regionally based specials, there should only be a *small* price difference of around $20 or so, not the massive amounts we’ve seen as shown by people here.

Volume isn’t the problem, what is the problem is Appls unwillingness to adjust pricing in a timely mannor to reflect either the appreciation or depreciation of the importing countries currency.

2004-12-17 10:13 am

Installed it onto my old iBook Indigo 366Mhz, running very nicely, oh, and it appears that the internet connection is now alot more reliable; anyone tried the update on the iMac or eMac, which uses a internal USB modem? has the problems been fixed in regards to reliability and waking back from sleep?

2004-12-17 3:22 pm

“Mind you, one company I do see, willing to make sure they’re ontop of the game is Dell, and their willingness to pass on savings when currency does appreciate. If the lagging attitude by Apple continues, Dell will receive another customer to its fold.”

Very true. The price difference is mostly due to the fact that prices aren’t adjusted to follow the dollar value. Dell is very good at making the plunging dollar work for them, by lowering the prices elsewhere almost instantly, resulting in increased sales.

2004-12-17 6:11 pm

So… UT2k4 is now running at a playable speed on my 17″ powerbook, which is cool. On the bad side, it looks like I’m having jack’s problem: my keyboard doesn’t light up anymore. I really liked that backlight.

2004-12-17 11:24 pm

Oops, nevermind about the keyboard; I just couldn’t find a dark enough place for the thing to light up. It’s happy now.